“I see at least one rat daily” -Your Sussex halls horror stories revealed

For any seasoned Sussex student, you will most likely be familiar with the difficulties of living in halls. Undoubtedly, our halls are outrageously expensive, with Swanborough costing over £150 a week and the minimum at £88 per week for East Slope – suffice to say, given that on campus accommodation is university managed, as students we expect a decent standard of living.

However, this is not always the case, with many students suffering a poor quality of living due to the management of their halls. Here are some of the worst experiences that students had to share:

Jack, 19, East Slope

"A couple days ago I was nicely tucked up in my uncomfortable bed, it was still early morning and I wanted a lie in. I was woken up by a faint fire alarm in the distance, I assumed it was a neighbours, so I didn't move.

"Next thing I know so random security bloke barges into my room and starts yelling at me that I'm gonna get a fine, I can't say much cause I'm literally naked in bed with this guy in my room. Turns out mine and a few of my flat mates fire alarms weren't working. "

Jack, 18, Park Village

"My sink flooded my room 3 days into my stay at Sussex at Park Village no joke, had to claim insurance, and the porter that came to check it out broke my towel rail next to my sink just by leaning on it and they only just got around to checking it out again.

"I also see at least one rat daily around Park Village outside too."

Rebecca, 21, Stanmer Court

"The heat in Stanmer Court on the top floors is next to no other. We were walking round in shorts in November it was so bloody hot!"

Kate, 20, Norwich House

"I was in Norwich House, one of the Park houses. The water in our flat once came out brown for an entire morning, happening in the middle of my shower. We had ant infestations in the bathroom and the hob, freezer and microwave didn’t work when we moved in."

Toby, 18, Park Village

"One morning, all of the water in my flat was unexpectedly cut off. I came back in the afternoon to discover water literally dripping through my ceiling and a smell of smoke filling my room – as it turns out, the room above mine had flooded.

"York House did hardly anything to help and I ended up spending three days without heating or electricity. Oh and we also quite often find we don’t have heating or electricity."

Rozzy, 19, Brightelm

Alice, 20, Northfield

"I had a nest of wasp spiders on my windows and every time I opened my window, one would come in. I asked the porter to help me get rid of it as a listed mental health student and they refused."

Katie, 19, Park Village

"Park Village doesn't even have a communal eating area, meaning all meals have to be eaten in solitary confinement unless you put chairs in the halls which you could get fined for. The halls themselves were tiny.

I also had problems with a ladybird infestation, only one of our showers tended to work and that was for twelve of us. Not to mention it used to be a brothel."

Meg, 22, York House

"I was in York House and first of all: since all corridors were linked to each other, it meant everyone had access to all halls and kitchens in the entire house.

"Our kitchen was always trashed through the night by random people several times: once they peed in our kettle, then they'd always steal our food from fridges and cupboards, then threw eggs, Nutella and whatever they'd find on the walls and floors in the whole flat.

"My door's once been trashed with shampoo all over it, I thought it was sperm for a minute but thank fuck it wasn't and it was easy thing to clean up as well. Other than that, in January we didn't have any hot water or heating for 3 weeks."

In response to these claims, the university said:

“Our housing team work really hard to listen to and respond to students who may have accommodation concerns. With a portfolio of residences on and off campus there will from time to time be things we need to repair and improve.

"On the whole matters are attended to swiftly and thoroughly, however if a student is not happy they must let us know ASAP, ideally via the housing office and we will work hard to find a solution. We are in regular discussion with the Students’ Union on all matters related to housing and will continue to do so.”